Op verzoek van Barroso komt Letland met een nieuwe eurocommissaris (en)
Auteur: | By Richard Carter
At the request of Commission President-designate José Manual Durao Barroso, the Latvian government has nominated a new candidate for its European Commissioner -after its first candidate failed to impress MEPs.
According to agency reports, the new candidate will be Andris Piebalgs, who worked as "chef de cabinet" to Sandra Kalniete - Latvia's member of the Prodi Commission.
Latvian Prime Minister Indulis Emsis told reporters it was "an unanimous decision", according to Agence France Presse.
He has been both education and finance minister of Latvia and has since served as Riga's ambassador in both Estonia and Brussels, according to the FT.
Mr Piebalgs's appointment comes after Mr Barroso sent a letter to the Latvian authorities requesting that Riga's previous candidate Ingrida Udre be replaced.
Ms Udre was one of five commissioners-designate who failed to impress MEPs.
She was appointed to the tax and customs union portfolio but several MEPs raised questions about the funding of her political party in Latvia.
And her departure follows that of Rocco Buttiglione, the controversial Italian nominee for Brussels, who angered MEPs by saying that homosexuality was a "sin".
Women first
The replacement will come as a blow to Mr Barroso's aim of having at least eight women in his team - his main achievement so far.
Italy's replacement for Mr Buttiglione is widely expected to be current foreign minister Franco Frattini and Mr Piebalgs' appointment will bring down the number of women in the Commission to seven.
More departures from the "Barroso I" Commission could yet follow. Other female commissioners under pressure include the Dane Mariann Fischer Boel and Dutch commissioner Neelie Kroes.
Mr Barroso hopes to unveil his new team at the forthcoming summit of EU heads of state and government beginning on Thursday (4 November) in Brussels.
He decided to withdraw his first team last week after it became clear that MEPs would vote against it in the European Parliament.